“The initial observation was accidental, as is often the case in ecological research,” says study leader Piotr Zduniak, who saw the spectacle while birdwatching in the Kizilirmak Delta, one of the Middle East's largest wetlands.

If true, the phenomenon could be considered mutualism, Zduniak says—a reciprocal behavior among species that benefits both parties.

Friends With Benefits?

Mutualism is rare between vertebrates, notes Judith Bronstein, an ecologist at the University of Arizona.

This Frog Screams When Scared

“The best understood cases of mutualism between two vertebrate species involve one species that removes parasites from the other, like cleaner fish and their host fish," says Bronstein, who was not involved in the frog-buffalo study.